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Ubisoft's defense against The Crew lawsuit doubles down on a point we've heard many times before: You don't actually own your gamesApr 10, 2025 - PC GamerUbisoft felt bad enough about killing The Crew in 2024 that it promised to never, ever do it again—in The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest, at least. But it doesn't feel so bad that it's willing to admit it actually did anything wrong: In response to a proposed class action lawsuit over the shutdown filed last year, Ubisoft said the plaintiffs in the case knew—or should have known—that they were only buying "limited licenses" to access the game... Read more.Ubisoft argues The Crew players should've realised they weren't paying for "unfettered ownership" of a game and whips out the phrase "inactionable puffery" about some words on a boxApr 10, 2025 - VG247A response from Ubisoft and its lawyers to the claims of an ongoing lawsuit a number of The Crew players affected by the game's shutdown has surfaced, and it's an interesting read, if pretty depressing if you're still under the illusion that you actually own any of the games you've bought. Read more You never owned the game, insist Ubisoft to The Crew players that are suing the publisherApr 10, 2025 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunUbisoft's lawyers have responded to a legal action from players of defunct racing game The Crew by insisting that those players never owned the game in the first place. The players made their lawsuit to complain about the game being made unplayable when servers were shut down last year, but Ubisoft have now responded to argue that the game was only "licensed" to those playing, and players should never have expected the game to be useable in perpetuity. Read more New petition that asks devs to "stop destroying games" has over 400k signaturesMar 26, 2025 - PCGamesNA new European Citizens' Initiative, entitled 'Stop Destroying Video Games,' has accumulated over 400,000 signatures and counting. The online petition calls for publishers to ensure that games are left in a playable state when they shut down support. The Crew was left completely unplayable after servers closed last year, and with a range of new games requiring an online connection or online authentication to even be played, including behemoths like Diablo 4, gamers are worried about the future of their favorite titles. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Half-Life YouTuber starts campaign to stop publishers destroying games Half-Life YouTuber plans lawsuit against Ubisoft for killing The Crew Ubisoft takes down its MMO racing game, announces server shutdown Proposed class action lawsuit claims The Crew players were 'duped', bizarrely comparing the game shutting down to Ubisoft breaking into your house and stealing parts of a pinball machineNov 12, 2024 - PC GamerTwo Californians are suing Ubisoft over fraud, and several other complaints, due to the publisher's shutdown of The Crew in April, which left players unable to access even the singleplayer portion of this online-only racing game. While the lawsuit (spotted by Polygon) only includes two plaintiffs, the claims are also being made on behalf of other players as well, with the plaintiffs hoping the court will approve it as a class action... Read more.New California law inspired by Ubisoft and Sony requires retailers to warn consumers that the digital games they buy can be taken away at any timeSep 27, 2024 - PC Gamernew California law set to come into effect in 2025 will make it illegal for sellers to use terms like "buy" or "purchase" in relation to digital goods—movies, books, and of course videogames—unless they provide a "clear and conspicuous" warning to consumers that those goods could be taken away from them at any time... Read more.After eating it for killing The Crew, Ubisoft promises to bring offline support to The Crew 2 and The Crew MotorfestSep 10, 2024 - PC GamerPerhaps still stinging from the unexpectedly ferocious reaction to its decision to bring The Crew to a sudden, unwanted stop, Ubisoft announced today that offline modes are being developed for The Crew 2 and The Crew Motorfest... Read more.UK government responds to petition asking them to regulate publishers into keeping games "in a working state"May 4, 2024 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunThe UK government has responded to a petition asking for "government intervention" to force the industry to keep video games "in a reasonably working state when support ends", rather than allowing them to become unplayable such as when online servers are shut down. The petition was prompted by the closure in March of ten-year-old Ubisoft racing game The Crew. Read more The Crew has started disappearing from game libraries after its closure last monthApr 14, 2024 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunThe Crew, Ubisoft's 2014 racing game, closed its doors on March 31st. After that date, launching the game took you to a splash screen and then presented an error message when trying to advance, because the servers are no longer offline. Ubisoft have now taken the extra step of revoking The Crew licenses from purchasers and removing it from their library. Read more Ubisoft is stripping people's licences for The Crew weeks after its shutdown, nearly squandering hopes of fan servers and acting as a stark reminder of how volatile digital ownership isApr 12, 2024 - PC GamerThe downside of digital ownership has reared its ugly head for enjoyers of Ubisoft's open-world multiplayer racer The Crew. The publisher has revoked its licence for those who owned it on Ubisoft Connect, almost destroying fan ambitions to revive the game in both an offline and online format... Read more.Gamers seek legal win that would stop developers from rendering online games unplayable: 'It is an assault on both consumer rights and preservation of media'Apr 5, 2024 - PC GamerUbisoft pulled the plug on The Crew this month, rendering the 10-year-old racing game unplayable due, it said, to "server infrastructure and licensing constraints." It's hardly the first time an online game has been sent to a farm upstate by a publisher that neither wants to continue supporting it nor offer players a way to play it offline or on private servers, but rather than accept the status quo, YouTuber Ross Scott is putting up a fight... Read more.Stop Killing Games hopes to petition regulators to stop developers from shutting down gamesApr 4, 2024 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunUbisoft racing game The Crew shut down on March 31st, rendering the game unplayable for everyone who bought it since its release ten years ago. In response, YouTuber Ross Scott has launched Stop Killing Games, "the largest campaign ever to stop publishers destroying games". The initiative exists to encourage people to petetiion their governments about the issue. Read more Half-Life YouTuber starts campaign to stop publishers destroying gamesApr 3, 2024 - PCGamesNThe creator of iconic Half-Life YouTube series Freeman's Mind has launched a new campaign against publishers that close, shutdown, or otherwise bar access to videogames that players have already purchased. Ross Scott, also known via his YouTube channel name Accursed Farms, previously announced that he was considering ways to bring legal attention to this industry-wide practice after Ubisoft confirmed it would close servers for racing game The Crew on Sunday March 31. With that date now passed, Scott has launched a new website called Stop Killing Games, which outlines the campaign's objectives while guiding would-be supporters to a variety of platforms that they may use to protest or petition "the practice of publishers destroying videogames they have sold to customers." Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Half-Life YouTuber plans lawsuit against Ubisoft for killing The Crew Ubisoft takes down its MMO racing game, announces server shutdown Ubisoft are giving away open world racer The Crew The Crew Motorfest arrives on Steam in April, weeks after The Crew 1 turns offMar 26, 2024 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunOn March 31st, Ubisoft's open world racing game The Crew will be turned off for good. As of right now, no one can buy the ten-year-old racer, but come the end of the month, even those that did buy it will no longer be able to play it. On April 18th, The Crew Motorfest will arrive on Steam after several months available via the Epic Games Store and Ubisoft's own launcher, providing a new venue to buy the third entry in the series. Or perhaps that should be "rent". Read more Half-Life YouTuber plans lawsuit against Ubisoft for killing The CrewJan 19, 2024 - PCGamesNThe YouTuber and film-maker behind legendary Half-Life series Freeman's Mind is planning a class-action lawsuit against Ubisoft over the shutdown of racing game The Crew. Ross Scott, also known by his channel name Accursed Farms, claims that the closure of The Crew's servers, scheduled for Sunday March 31, represents a "gray area" in videogame consumer law that he would like to challenge. Scott's contention centers on the fact that, since The Crew is only playable online, after the game's servers are closed, it will no longer be accessible to anybody who owns it, whether digitally or via a physical copy. The Half-Life film-maker, who voices a parody version of in his long-running YouTube series, argues that Ubisoft rendered The Crew "unusable and deprived it of all value after the point of sale." Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Ubisoft takes down its MMO racing game, announces server shutdown Ubisoft are giving away open world racer The Crew The Crew to get a cop-themed expansion, Calling All Units, coming November 29 Motoring MMO The Crew is going offline in March, making it impossible to playDec 15, 2023 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunUbisoft’s open-world multiplayer driving game The Crew will switch off its servers next spring, just shy of the series’ 10th anniversary. The shutdown will leave the car-based MMO impossible to play, with the game pulled from sale ahead of the move. Read more Ubisoft takes down its MMO racing game, announces server shutdownDec 14, 2023 - PCGamesNThe Crew is coming to an end it seems, as Ubisoft announces its closure and the upcoming shutdown of the racing MMO's servers. After almost a decade of wild online rides, the behemoth developer says that the game's removal is a "necessity." The news comes soon after the recent launch of The Crew Motorfest's second season. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Ubisoft are giving away open world racer The Crew The Crew to get a cop-themed expansion, Calling All Units, coming November 29 The Crew: Wild Run is out now, comes with a two-hour timed demo The Crew removed from sale, will become unplayable after April 1: 'We understand this may be disappointing for players still enjoying the game'Dec 14, 2023 - PC GamerThe Crew is being taken off the streets: Ubisoft announced today that sales of its online racing game have been halted on all storefronts, and it will no longer be playable on any platform after March 31, 2024... Read more.The Crew franchise has clocked up over 30 million playersJun 13, 2021 - EurogamerThe Crew has clocked up 30 million players since the franchise first launched back in 2014. The milestone was announced as part of last night's Ubisoft Forward presentation (you can catch up now courtesy of Martin's excellent on-the-night liveblogging right here). "This year has been an incredibly intense one for The Crew 2 and everybody at Ivory Tower," the team explains on the official website. "We managed to deliver an update every four months, as well as a new episode every two months. Our teams have successfully shipped all the content we promised a year ago." Read more The 9 best road trips in PC gamesMay 8, 2020 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunOne Off The List is our weekly list feature. Is there something you think doesn’t deserve to be on this list? Comment with your reasons why, and next week it may be struck off. Kick the tires, whistle at the paint job, spin the keys on your finger like a revolver and then shoot the car with the little laser of unlocking. It’s time to get back on the road. What’s that? Entire country in a state of unprecedented lockdown? I see. Well, lucky for you, we concern ourselves here only with pretend cars, the indoor joy of fictional journeys on virtual roads. Here, my housebound friends, are the 9 best road trips in PC games. Seatbelts on, please. (more…)
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